It is more than appropriate that Veterans Day falls on a Sunday this year as it gives each and everyone of us the opportunity to give thanks to the author of freedom for the men and women of our armed forces who have done and continued to do so much to safeguard them.

Freedom is a precious commodity in a world which all too often has found itself in the clutches of tyrants of every stripe who use terror to maintain their grip on power and the target of those who use terror in a bid to seize power and become tyrants themselves.

Over past two centuries, one nation, the United States of America, has been a beacon of a hope to world mired in hopelessness of tyranny and terrorism. America stands for and embodies the principles of freedom, liberty, human rights, constitutional government and the rule of law. The example it has set has inspired and continues to inspire others who struggle against tyranny and terror in the hope that they, their children and their countries will one day enjoy the freedoms that make America the freest and most successful nation in history.

The example of America, however, has also inspired hatred by those who understand that the American example endangers their tyranny and/or threatens to thwart their ambitions to impose tyranny. America and it freedoms is a threat to these tyrants and terrorists and because it threatens them they have sought and continue to seek its destruction.

One thing that has always stood in their way and continues to do so are the American men and women who put on the uniforms of the armed forces of this nation, submit to its discipline and place themselves in harm’s way. It is these men and women who defeated the Redcoat armies of the only regime to ever oppress this nation and who have since prevented all would-be oppressors from ever seizing one inch of this country. Whether it be the Central Powers of World War I, the Axis Powers of World War II, the Soviet Union and Red China in the Cold War, or, today, the terrorist armies of Islamofascism, our armed forces have defended America and its freedoms with courage and skill and thwarted the sinister designs of our enemies.

Veterans Day is a day we set aside to honor the men and women of our armed forces both past and present just as Sunday is a day set aside by God as a day of rest.

The enemies of freedom, however, never take a day off in their never ending jihad against humanity and because of that our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines will be at their posts around the world, even on a day set aside to honor them, even on a day designated as a day of rest. They do not rest and celebrate so that the rest of us may enjoy a day of rest and celebration and enjoy in peace and security the freedoms that they stand in defense of.

Sunday is Veterans Day and because of that a day that is already special is made even more special, especially if we stop, pause and reflect on all the God-given freedoms that we Americans enjoy because so many of our fellow Americans stand watch night and day against those who would take away those freedoms.

Think about this today and tomorrow, go to church and give thanks for the freedoms we enjoy and the men and women who protect them and ask God’s protection and blessing on them so that they may one day return to their homes and families and share in the freedoms this country is blessed with and make it a blessing to all the world.